Role Reversal
by Surflilu246
Summary: The roles are reversed when Agumon & the other digimon are captured by a new enemy. To help them save their friends, Taichi & the others have acquired some new, strange powers. Will they be able to save their digimon, or will they be captured themselves?
1. I'm Burning Up, I'm Cooling Down

The day was like any other day. He was walking his route, patrolling his section of the island. For the months he had been doing this nothing had happened, so he often found himself slacking off. One would find it hard to believe that someone could sleep and walk at the same time, but the little orange digimon would argue that he'd done it multiple times.

His clawed feet crunched into the gravel of the path, and his eyes drooped wearily. The sun was beginning to set, and his shift would soon be over. One of his friends would take over for him in a bit, he would just have to get through the last half hour or so. The last half hour always took the longest.

His feet continued to crunch into the ground as he walked along, eventually reaching a denser part of the forest he was patrolling. The sun was almost entirely blocked out of it, and the trees hung over him like massive spider webs. A chill went down the small digimon's spine, as the change in his surroundings brought him to attention. Suddenly, he wanted to alert one of his friends that he was nervous. He wanted to alert one friend, in particular. However, as he thought and walked along, a mysterious figure appeared in front of him.

The little digimon stopped in his tracks. "Who are you?" He called out, a bead of sweat dripping down his neck.

The figure did not respond. It looked almost two dimensional. It was nearly black, and the shadows cast from the trees helped disguise it more.

"You're not supposed to be here," the digimon continued, "you're trespassing."

To that, the figure took a step forward and growled. However, the orange digimon stood his ground. He'd seen a lot of bad things, and he was sure this wouldn't be worse.

"Pepper breath!" The small digimon called out as a ball of fire was released from his mouth. It momentarily lit up the forest before going out against the figure's black chest. "It… it didn't do anything.."

"Of course not," the figure finally replied, in a deep voice. There was a slight growl underneath it, as if it's throat was sore. "your attacks are futile against me."

"What do you want here?" The orange digimon asked, still standing tall.

The black figure chuckled manically and took another step forward. "You."

"W-what?" Was the digimon's only reply. He knew the opening of the forest wasn't too far behind him, however he couldn't bring himself to move.

The figure, though, continued to move forward. "You need to be punished for all you have done."

A few more beads of sweat began to form on the digimon's neck. He watched for a moment as the figure advanced towards him. "What do you mean? What I've done?"

"You'll see." The figure said, flashing an evil grin the digimon could now make out because of the lack of distance between the two of them. The little orange digimon turned to run, but he couldn't get far enough away before the figure formed his attack.

"You won't get away, Agumon." It said. "Darkness cannon!"

The figure put it's two hands together and released a large black ball of energy towards the fleeing digimon. It hit him square on the back, causing him to collapse. The figure ran up to him and put a foot on his head, pushing him farther into the ground. He smirked down at Agumon as the little digimon's eyes began to close.

X

Taichi Yagami nearly jumped out of his bed, pushing all of the covers off his body. He ran one of his sweaty hands around his sheets to find his phone, and when he found it, he checked the time. 3:42 A.M, it read. He threw his phone back down onto his bed and wiped some of the sweat off his forehead with his sleeve. He felt like he was burning up. Quietly, so he wouldn't wake his sister, he crawled down from the top of the bunk bed and walked into the bathroom. There was a thermometer in one of the drawers, he knew, but first he really needed some water.

Taichi looked at himself in the mirror and noticed the redness of his skin. His cheeks, especially, were a dark shade of crimson. The boy groaned as he reached for one of the cups that sat on the counter. He hated being sick, but at least he wouldn't have to go to school. Taichi filled the cup and brought it to his lips. He could almost feel the cool liquid running down his throat. However, once the first drop of water came in contact with him, it evaporated. The boy didn't notice for a few seconds, but once he became aware of the fact that he wasn't swallowing anything, he looked down at the cup and the steam now coming out the top of it. Taichi gasped and dropped the container, causing it to shatter across the floor.

To this noise, Hikari fidgeted in her sleep. Gently, her eyes popped open, and she noticed the light that was coming from the bathroom. She ran a hand through her messy hair as she slowly sat up, squinting her eyes to try and see into the bright light.

"Taichi?" She asked, her voice a little crackly from the dryness of her throat. "Are you alright? I heard something shatter."

She listened closely, but could barely make out the response. '_Good job Taichi, you woke your sister up._'

The girl furrowed her brow at his odd answer. 'Taichi?"

Hikari swung around so her feet were on the cool floor and stood up. Stretching gently, she walked closer to the bathroom. "Are you alright?" She asked again once she got closer to the door.

Taichi spun around and tried to kick the broken glass under the sink with his feet. He felt small prickles go through his skin, and he let out a small gasp. However, the pain didn't last for long. The boy lifted up his foot, but no more shards remained. His eyes widened as they melted and dripped down off the bottoms of his heels.

'_Shit, what am I going to tell Hikari. She'll know something's wrong. I don't even know what's wrong!_'

Hikari stared at the boy for a moment, and he stared back. The girl put one hand in front of her mouth and tried not to freak out. She had heard her brother say something, but he hadn't opened his mouth.

"_What's wrong with her?"_

The boy still stood in the bathroom, looking incredibly perplexed. Hikari, however, said without thinking, "What do you mean what's wrong with me?"

"What?" Taichi asked, "_What is she talking about?_"

The girl stared at her brother for another moment before letting her eyes drop to the ground. "Nothing." she responded, feeling a bit embarrassed. She swore she had heard her brother speak, but his lips didn't move. Perhaps she was just tired. She couldn't really have been reading her brother's mind or something. No, that was impossible. "I-I think I'm going to go back to bed," the girl continued, "but you should drink some water. You look hot."

As Hikari left the room, Taichi gave her a weird look before turning to look at himself once again in the mirror. His face was still red, and he could still feel his skin swelling with heat. Whatever was going on with his sister was nothing compared to what was going on with him. The boy turned on the faucet to try and run cool water over his hands, but the moment he put his hands close to the flowing stream, it turned to steam.

"What?" Taichi exclaimed. "This is impossible!"

X

A few hours later, on the other side of town, Yamato awoke for school. He lifted up the multiple blankets he had piled on during the night and stood up. He was still freezing. Throughout the past couple of hours the boy had been woken and woken again from sleep because he was shivering so roughly. No matter how many layers he put on, he was still cold. The boy, after willing himself to get out of bed, walked over towards his window and let the warm sun hit his skin. It helped, but not much. Perhaps he was sick?

Yamato crossed his arms and hugged himself, moving his palms up and down against his goosebump-filled skin. He knew he had to go to school today, so it didn't matter if he was sick or not. The boy really just wanted to warm up. He walked over towards his closet and pulled out a pair of heavy jeans and a v-neck sweater. After putting them on, he felt a little better, but his skin still felt like ice.

"What is going on with me?" Yamato asked to himself.

He walked over towards his bedside table to check on his digivice, as he did every morning since his friends and him had left the digital world. However, instead of there being the familiar red dot which pinpointed Gabumon's location, the screen was blank. Yamato raised an eyebrow and placed his digivice in his backpack. _'The stupid thing must be out of batteries.'_

As the boy walked out of his house, he knew he looked a bit odd. Although it was quite warm outside, he was dressed like it was winter. He got a few odd looks on the street, but nothing unbearable. Everyone was just excited to be outside in the sunny weather. For the past couple of days, it had rained on and off, and there were still puddles left everywhere on the ground. Yamato carefully avoided them. He didn't want to get his new shoes wet, but it was nearly impossible to avoid them all. The boy stepped off the curb and into the street, not seeing a giant puddle that hid itself next to the cement where the street drooped down. Yamato gasped, unable to stop his step on such short notice. However, instead of splashing into the deep puddle, the boy felt a hard surface.

"What?" The boy asked to himself as he looked down. The puddle had frozen into a giant section of ice. Yamato, a little shaken, simply shook it off and kept moving forward. He had seen weirder things before, but still, what was happening to him?

After a few more minutes, Yamato reached his school. Once inside his classroom, he could relax. His skin was still filled with goosebumps, but at least his skin was entirely covered.

"Hey, Yamato." He heard a voice say. The boy turned around and found Koushirou walking towards him.

"Hey!" The blonde answered as his friend took a seat next to him. "What's going on?"

Koushirou shrugged his shoulders. "Nothing, really. I'm tired though, I was trying this new format for my computer last night and I got a bit carried away with it."

"You say that like I should know what it means." Yamato laughed.

"Yeah, yeah." The boy sighed. "Hey, it's pretty cold in here."

Yamato raised an eyebrow as Koushirou put on a light jacket he had brought with him.

The boy continued, "It wasn't this cold before."

"Well I've been freezing all morning." Yamato replied, furrowing his brow. "Join the club."

Koushirou huffed. "Right."

Suddenly, after a few moments of silence between the two, a quiet beeping could be heard from inside Koushirou's bag.

"What's that?" Yamato asked as he watched the boy unzip his backpack.

"It, It sounds like my digivice." Koushirou responded, a little confused. He rustled through his bag a bit and eventually got the device in his grip after seeing the blinking red light that came from it. It buzzed rapidly in his hand, enough for the boy to feel the need to keep it hidden just under the folds of his backpack.

"It's freaking out!" Yamato exclaimed, peering into the bag.

"You think? Gah!" Koushirou cried as he dropped the digivice from his hand. A shock moved from his hand, to up his arm, to down his spine, making the boy's body spasm for a moment. Quickly, once he regained control of his body, he pulled his arm out and rubbed his hand with his other one.

"Are you alright?" Yamato asked, clearly concerned.

Koushriou drew in a big breath before responding. "Yeah.. yeah.. it just shocked me."

Yamato raised an eyebrow. "Shocked you?"

"Yeah.." Koushirou responded as he went digging through his bag once again, this time much more carefully. However, the blinking red light that had helped him find it last time was gone. "The screen went out.." Koushirou mumbled, carefully touching the device with one of his fingers. Once he deemed it safe, he picked it up once again and examined it. It was cold. The redhead bit his lip. "The whole thing seems to be dead."

-surflilu

**I'm so excited to write the rest of this story. I hope you all enjoyed it so far! Please let me know what you think. I'll get the next chapter up as soon as I can! (And you'll get to see what weird things are going on with everyone else!)  
><strong>


	2. Something Strange

Sora wasn't usually one to be late, especially without a good excuse. Today was off for her, though. She hadn't slept well the night before and she pressed the snooze button on her alarm clock one too many times. She hustled down the hallway, but not too fast. She figured she was already late, so a few more minutes wouldn't do anything awful. As the girl passed mirrors in the hall, she couldn't help but notice how unkept she looked. Her hair was knotted and she wore sweatpants and a plain white tee-shirt. Honestly, she didn't have time to do anything before she ran out the door for school. She supposed she could have showered or eaten breakfast, but she hated missing work. Eventually though, there were no more mirrors to look into, and she proceeded on her way.

Although she had a backpack, Sora carried many of her books in her hands. She didn't waste time packing them up, she simply grabbed them and left her house. They were beginning to get heavy, but her classroom was in sight. She was only about twenty minutes late. The girl just hoped her teacher wouldn't be too annoyed with her.

Sora picked up her pace as she crossed the last intersection in the hallway. There were other late kids bustling about, and one of them ran right into Sora, knocking all of the books out of her hands.

"Ow! What was that?" The boy exclaimed, spinning around to see what he had knocked into. He saw the books on the ground and grumbled. "Who leaves books lying around?"

As the boy trudged on, Sora called after him, enraged. "Aren't you going to apologize?"

However, she received no response. The boy didn't even flinch. The girl was about to shout something else, but before she did, a giant wind roared through the hall and knocked the boy onto his back. His papers flew everywhere and tumbled across the hall, carried by the remnants of the gust.

The boy screamed, and Sora's eyes grew wide. "What in the world was that?"

Sora looked around for an open window but couldn't find one. The hall was completely closed off. Unless an air conditioner just exploded somewhere, there was no way a gust of wind could have formed in the hall, much less a gust that could knock someone off their feet.

The confused girl groaned and leaned down to pick her books back up. She decided that it was some sort of freak incident that she had no time to think about. Quickly, Sora put her things in her locker and dashed to class.

As usual, Yamato and Koushirou had saved a seat for her. They were all in the same first period together. The digidestined had all developed a nasty habit of clinging to each other; it helped them hold onto the memories of the adventures they shared not too long ago, and of their respective digimon.

As quietly as she could, Sora tiptoed into the classroom as to not disturb the lecture. The seat was already pulled out, so the girl made no noise when she sat. The girl smiled; she had gotten in perfectly unnoticed.

"Hey." Sora whispered to Yamato, trying to get him to turn around. Both of the boys were sitting in front of her. "Hey!" The girl whispered again, a little louder than before.

However, Yamato still didn't move.

"Yamato?" Sora whispered, still louder than before.

When he didn't answer again, Sora mumbled under her breath. "Why is everyone being so obnoxious this morning?"

Still, Yamato didn't move. Koushirou didn't move either, but Sora simply assumed he was sucked into the lecture as he always was.

Giving up, Sora turned her attention to the professor. He was droning on and on about some sort of equation. The girl had only missed twenty minutes of class and she was completely lost!

The girl decided to ask Koushirou what was going on and tapped him on the shoulder. "Koushirou, what's this equation for?"

The red head didn't answer. He turned around briefly and rubbed the spot on his shoulder where Sora had tapped him, only taking half a second to glance at the spot where Sora sat.

Next, he turned to Yamato. "Where do you think Sora is today?"

Yamato looked behind him as well. "I don't know. It's not my job to keep track of her."

Koushirou grumbled. "I didn't imply that, she just doesn't miss school very often."

"Maybe she's sick." Yamato responded bluntly before bringing his attention back to the class.

Sora furrowed her brow. "Guys!" she said in a normal tone now, "I'm right here!" The girl nearly threw her arms in the air but she still got no response. "Guys!"  
>Now she was simply getting annoyed. "Yamato, Koushirou, I know I look awful but that's no reason to pretend I don't exist!"<p>

Still, there was no response. Forgetting where she was, Sora stood from her seat and yelled, "Guys!" and then got quieter, "I-m… I'm here…"

It was then that Sora's face went white. She stood in the middle of the class with her mouth wide open. Her scream should have gotten everyone's attention, but it attracted no one's. Quickly, Sora dashed out of the class and back into the hall to search for a mirror. She found one, but nearly fainted when she looked into it.

"I-I don't have a reflection?" She asked aloud, her voice shaky. The girl reached out her hand and touched the glass. She could see her skin, the form of her hand, but on the other side of the glass, nothing reached out. There was nothing to reach out from. Nothing was there.

Sora backed away from it and nearly tripped over her heels. "I-I'm going insane. Am I dead? Am I a ghost?"

The girl was about to turn back around to go to the classroom. She was determined to get someones attention, but just before she did, her figure appeared in the mirror. There was nothing there, then with a blink, there she was. Sora's eyes flew open in surprise. She gasped and reached out once again. Her mirror image followed everything she did. Sora let out a sigh. She was confused, but mostly relieved. Perhaps she was so exhausted she simply made the whole thing up.

The girl walked back to class, and forgetting no one else had noticed her before, she came in louder than she should have.

The professor looked up from his notes and scowled. "Well, I'm glad you could find the time to join us Ms. Takenouchi."

Normally, Sora would have been embarrassed, but she was just happy to have someone notice her. She muttered a quick apology before taking her seat once again.

Yamato turned around quickly to face her. "Where were you?"

Sora honestly had no idea how to respond, so she said the first thing that came to mind. "I, uh, I overslept."

Yamato chuckled and Sora raised an eyebrow at him, still a bit shaky from what had just happened. "Why are you all bundled up like it's winter? It's almost June."

"I'm cold!" Yamato exclaimed playfully, trying to pretend as if he had been insulted.

Sora giggled and the boy turned back around to take notes. The class would be over soon, and they would all have a chance to talk.

X

Taichi let out a sigh of relief when he heard the bell ring. He had tried to get a seat as close as he could to the window, but it didn't cool him down at all. Although he sat pretty far away from the door, he was the first one out of it, and the first one in line for the water fountain. Anxiously, he put his lips to it, worried that the water would disappear before he could drink it again. However, to his surprise, he felt the cool liquid enter his mouth and run down his throat. The boy stood, wiped his mouth, and smiled at the accomplishment of such a simple thing. In fact, his entire body felt cooler. The boy grinned.

"Taichi!" He heard from behind him. the boy turned around and met Yamato.

"Hey! What's up?"

"Mm, nothing. I nearly slept through all of first period though." Yamato yawned, covering his mouth as he spoke.

Taichi turned to the two people standing behind the blonde, particularly Sora. He laughed. "Did you not sleep well either? You look terrible."

"You're _so_ funny. It's nice to see you too, Taichi." The girl grumbled, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"Hey, I was just joking." Taichi chuckled as he reached out and rubbed his hand on the girls head, messing her hair up even more.

Sora effortlessly pushed him away. "Will you knock it off? You're so annoying."

"Oh am I?" Taichi raised an eyebrow and smirked, reaching his hand out once again. He only meant to playfully punch her shoulder, but as soon as he applied force, the girl was sent flying back towards the wall. Admittedly, she was only a few inches away from it, so it wasn't exactly flying, but she still hit the lockers with enough force to create an alarming sound.

"Taichi!" Both Koushirou and Yamato exclaimed at the same time. Their eyes followed the girl as she slammed into the wall, but it happened too fast for either of them to do anything.

The brunette froze.

"What's wrong with you?" Yamato asked, helping to lift Sora back up from against the wall. The girl rubbed her shoulder and gave Taichi a clearly aggravated look.

"Thanks for that." She said, adjusting her backpack straps on her shoulders.

"I-I really didn't... I don't know.. how that happened..." The boy stumbled over his words as he raised his hands to his face. He looked at them in wonder. He hadn't meant to push her that hard. He hadn't even thought about it.

Yamato, changing his look from shocked to concerned, looked from his friend's hands to his friend's face. "Are you alright Taichi?"

"Yeah..." the boy said quietly. "Just.. something strange is going on."

Koushirou, Sora, and Yamato all looked at each other. They weren't sure what Taichi meant, but they knew they all agreed with him. Yamato, realizing he suddenly didn't feel so cold anymore, took his sweater off and threw it over his shoulder. The white undershirt he wore covered him up enough. They didn't really say anything else; they all had too much going through their minds.

X

On the other side of the building, where the younger kids had classes, Hikari sat next to Takeru in math. The professor, as in Yamato's class, was going on and on about something much too difficult to be taught in school, at least in Takeru's opinion.

_"Man, I don't get any of this."_

"It's not too difficult," Hikari said, turning to him and smiling, "You just have to remember not to put the square sign inside the parentheses."

Takeru stared at the girl. "What?"

"It's not too difficult.." The girl repeated, her voice getting quieter with each word. Suddenly, her stomach dropped. Was it happening again?

_"Why did she just say that?"_

Now, since Hikari was looking at the boy, she could see that his lips weren't moving. He stared at her, not saying a single word.

_"I wish she'd stop staring, she's making me nervous."_

Instantly, the girl looked away, forcing herself to stare up front at the white board and forgetting to blink. Takeru either didn't take notice or decided to move on. He picked up his pencil once again and began to take notes. Hikari however, sighed. She wished this would stop happening. She knew she was less freaked out than she should have been, but she had been to the digital world, after all. Nothing really surprised her anymore. Although, admittedly, she wasn't used to having something weird happen to _her_.

_"Ugh. I've got to pee so bad. I should go... but math.. but ugh! Okay, just go."_

Hikari bit her lip as Takeru rose from his seat. She wanted to laugh, and she wanted to flip out. It was pretty difficult to hold in both emotions, but she managed.

Takeru walked down the hall until he got to the bathroom, which wasn't too far away. He opened the door and realized there was no one else in there, which was always nice. He quickly relieved himself and took a few moments to look in the mirror. He poked and prodded at his face for a bit, trying to get a red spot on his skin to go away. He let out a loud groan after he realized all he did was make the spot worse.

"Ugh." He said to himself. "I wish I was Yamato. He never worries about what he looks like."

The boy washed his hands and walked over to get some paper towels. He pulled them out and crinkled the brown pieces of paper into a tight ball. A strange chill went down his spine as he dried his hands with it and his body began to feel numb. Takeru fidgeted uncomfortably in his shoes, wondering where the sudden sensation had come from.

Against his better judgment, the boy decided to check himself in the mirror one last time, at least to see if the red spot had gone down. However, once Takeru caught sight of himself, his heart nearly stopped.

"What in the..." Was all he could say as he reached out and touched the glass. In the mirror was not a perfect resemblance of him, but a perfect resemblance of Yamato. Takeru felt like himself, but the mirror said otherwise. He was sure he was seeing things. First, he blinked, then he rubbed his eyes. However, when the reflection refused to change, he reached up to his head, expecting to feel his hat. What he felt instead was a thick head of hair filled with gel. The boy gasped and jumped back from the mirror, allowing him to get a full view of the reflection. In response, the boy looked down. Indeed, he had his brother's school uniform on instead of the yellow shirt and jeans he had put on that morning. He was quite a few inches taller, too.

"Oh my god.."

-surflilu


	3. A Call for Help and a Warning of Danger

_"You'll never get away with this!" the small winged digimon called as he was thrust into the darkness."_

"_Oh please Patamon, you're the weakest one."_

_X_

Takeru emerged from the bathroom, but as far as anyone else was concerned, he was Yamato. Really, he wasn't sure what to do. He had left the bathroom without a plan, and now he just stood still in the middle of the hall. He felt awkward in his brother's body. His legs were longer and his hair covered a lot of his view.

"For the love of god," Takeru muttered to himself, "how does he manage to walk?"

He took a step toward his classroom, but quickly stopped. He couldn't go there, everyone would wonder why Yamato Ishida was in a younger class. And if word got to Yamato that he was in a younger class? If... if Yamato saw his duplicate? Would he believe it was his brother? The boy wasn't sure, but he couldn't just stand there all day. The boy formed a mediocre plan and once again walked in the direction of his class.

Hikari Yagami was still attentively taking down notes, attempting to hold a firm understanding on the information. However, she was sucked out of the lesson when she heard someone say her name behind her.

"Excuse me, is Hikari Yagami here?"

The brunette girl looked over her shoulder towards to door to see Yamato Ishida standing there looking very nervous.

The professor responded for her, "Yes, what's the matter?"

Takeru put a hand behind his head and stumbled over his words. "Er.. um.. Principle... principle Hirioshi has requested to see her right away!"

The professor raised an eyebrow and looked at the boy skeptically. "Do you have a note for Ms. Yagami?"

Takeru froze. He scrambled to figure out a good response, something that would be sure to get Hikari out of class. However, he couldn't think of anything. It wouldn't do any good to say he had a note, for the professor would want to see it. But, it wouldn't do to say he had no note either. It was a lose-lose situation, so the boy said the best thing he could think of. "No, I don't. The principle was in a hurry, she looked really er, annoyed."

The professor sighed, and Takeru's lungs clung to his ribcage. "Very well, just hurry." He waved at the young Yagami, and she picked up her bag and left.

Takeru bit his lip as he watched the girl walk toward him; she looked extremely confused, and extremely concentrated.

"_I really hope she doesn't think I'm nuts."_

The girl had to use all of her willpower to make it seem like something strange wasn't going through her mind. However, she couldn't help but wonder what Yamato was talking about. Why did he come and fetch her for the principle? Why would she think he was nuts?

When she finally was out of the classroom, Takeru closed the door and pulled her over. "Hikari, something weird's going on!"

The girl was clearly confused. She glanced down to where the boy's hand was held tightly against her arm and back up to his ice blue eyes. "Yamato, what in the world are you doing?"

_"Please realize I'm Takeru. Please believe me."_

Hikari's eyes opened wide. "W-what? Takeru?" She had once again forgotten not to speak. The boy that faced her hadn't said a word, yet she somehow knew that it wasn't Yamato who was staring at her with his pleading eyes.

Takeru let go of Hikari and took a half-step back. "How did you know it was me?" He asked.

A shiver went down the young girl's spine and she felt her entire body tense up. "I-I just.."

"It doesn't matter." Takeru said, quickly remembering his problem. "Look at me! I look like Yamato!"

Normally, the girl would have been very skeptical of what her friend was saying. People changing bodies? That was ridiculous. But, because of what was going on with her, she had no problem believing the boy. Admittedly, though, it still freaked her out. "You're really Takeru?"

"Yes!" The boy exclaimed. "It's me! Please believe me. Something weird is going on. Besides, if I really was Yamato, why would I take the time out of my day to come all the way down here to try and convince you I was my brother?"

Hikari had to admit, he had a point. "Then... how did you end up like this?" She looked the boy up and down. He certainly didn't resemble Takeru- well, besides from the DNA they shared.

"I don't know!" Takeru said, his eyes squinting with anxiety. "I was in the bathroom- one minute I was me, the next I was my brother! It's like I shape-shifted. I felt it happening to me."

_"What is Ishida doing all the way down here?"_

"What?" Hikari asked, looking at the boy. However, when she realized it wasn't his thoughts she had picked up, she turned around. Two boys were walking silently down the hall, they had just passed her. The girl grunted and turned back to her friend, who was now looking at her strangely.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

Hikari forced a smile and replied to him cheerfully. "Of course! I'm fine. Besides, we need to worry about you! What will Yamato say if you run into him? What if people see you and your brother at the same time?"

"I don't know what to do." Takeru mumbled. "I'm going to be stuck like this forever! I can't be Yamato!"

"Okay, okay! Just calm down." Hikari said, putting one hand on his shoulder. She had to reach up much higher than she was used to and it felt awkward. Although she knew it was Takeru, everything she did made her feel like she was interacting with the older Ishida boy. "We just need to get you out of here. Forget the rest of class. Let's go before anyone sees you."

"What about my things?" Takeru asked, pointing to the classroom both of them had just come from.

"I'll get them later," Hikari replied, beginning to pull him along. "Now come on, let's go!"

The two of them began to walk quickly down the hall. They didn't run- they didn't want to attract any extra attention, but they certainly didn't take their time. They had very little time to get out before the bell rang and classes changed. The duo had made it about halfway down the hall when they saw students begin to crowd the doors. They knew the time was coming, and they still had to reach the front of the school. They had reached the front foyer- they were almost out. However, just before they began the final stretch, the bell rang, and students came flooding out from everywhere.

"Shit!" Takeru muttered under his breath. Near the front of the school, it was a mix of younger classrooms and older classrooms. Students walked by who Takeru knew were friendly with Yamato. They waved at him, and he waved awkwardly back.

"Just stay calm." Hikari whispered, beginning to walk slowly towards the door.

Luckily for them, nothing major happened, and they were able to escape the building without running into anyone they knew. However, they still had to get across the school yard, and that was flooded with students, too.

"Let's just go quickly, don't make eye contact with _anyone_." Hikari instructed as she walked with the boy. With their heads down, they crossed the yard and neared the fountain and the front gate, but it was inevitable. _Someone_ had to notice them, and that someone had to be Jyou Kido.

"Hey!" He called from the other side of the fountain. "Hikari! Yamato!"

"Oh god." Takeru muttered under his breath as he watched the boy approach them.

"It's alright," Hikari responded, trying to reassure the boy. "It's alright. It's only Jyou, we'll just tell him we have to leave." She then turned to the older boy and greeted him, making sure it sounded like they were in a rush. "Jyou! It's good to see you, but we have to go!"

"We really can't talk now!" Takeru called over his shoulder as Hikari dragged him away. "We're in a hurry!"

"_A hurry? I was just going to ask when he wanted to finish our project... I'm always stuck doing all the work." _

For a moment, Hikari felt bad, but they really had no time to waste.

"I'm sure we'll talk later! Whatever you were about to tell me make sure you tell me once you see me!" Takeru shouted again.

Hikari tried to muffle her laughter as the two ran off the school grounds.

"That was... strange.." Jyou said to himself. He leaned back on the fountain and stared up at the sky. It was a beautiful day out, everything seemed to be going well. Really, he just didn't want to be stuck doing the project by himself. Although Yamato was one of his best friends, he hated being partners with him. It wasn't that the boy didn't want to help, it was just that he had other priorities. Jyou always enjoyed having his work done on time while Yamato would do it little by little between band practice and other things.

"_Jyou!"_

The boy brought his attention back to the school grounds and looked around. He swore he heard someone call his name, but the voice sounded so faint and so tiny, yet so familiar.

"Gomamon?" Jyou asked, quietly as well. He knew it couldn't be his friend from the digital world. He had left him behind there long ago.

_"Help me!" _

The boy looked around again, this time more urgently. He stopped leaning on the fountain and stood up, making sure to cover every area of the yard he could see. No one was paying any attention to him, so he assumed no one had called to him. Still though, he couldn't have been making the voice up, could he?

The boy looked back towards the school and noticed something that caused everything he had just worried about to leave his mind. Through the crowd of students coming out of the school doors, Jyou could pick out one blonde in particular. He blinked and rubbed his eyes a few times just to make sure he wasn't imagining it.

"Y-yamato?" he stuttered, nearly falling backwards. The boy looked back towards the school gates where Yamato had just left moments ago, and then back to the school, which Yamato was currently leaving. He straightened out his glasses and let his mouth hang wide open.

"I'm going nuts." Jyou concluded. "Look, now I'm even talking to myself."

The boy was so lost in his own thoughts that he didn't notice his digivice beeping in his bag, and he didn't notice the water in the fountain behind him that began to bubble.

X

Mimi Tachikawa had stayed home from school that day. In the morning, she was running a slight fever, but it went away quickly. There was no use going to school now, as it was almost over, so the girl sat restlessly on her couch flipping through channels on the television.

"Ugh." she groaned. "Nothing good's on during the day. This almost makes me miss school."

The girl let the remote drop from her hand as she let out a sigh of frustration. "I wish something interesting would happen. I'm so bored!"

She yawned and leaned back on the couch, letting her head rest on the back of it so she looked up at the ceiling. If Palmon were here, Mimi was sure she wouldn't be bored. Oh, how she missed her. The girl's eyes began to droop and she felt her body begin to relax. Sleep was coming, she knew it. At least it would be an escape from boredom. However, just before her eyes shut, the girl heard a faint beeping from her bedroom. Thinking it was her cell phone, the girl got up to answer it. However, her cell phone sat silently on her bed.

"What is that?" Mimi asked to herself. She clearly had forgotten the sound of a beeping digivice.

The girl dug through her drawers and pushed everything from notebooks to dead plants on her desk aside to search for whatever was making the noise. She was incredibly messy and always regretted it when she had to look for something. Finally though, in the back of her middle drawer, she pulled out the source of the beeping.

"My-my digivice?" she asked herself once again. Mimi held it up close to her face so she could investigate it. It was beeping out of control and glowing bright green. Mimi let out a shriek as the light covered her and caused her to lose visibility. "Palmon!" she called out, forgetting she was no longer with her friend. "Help!"

However, just as soon as the light took over, it receded. The beeping stopped and all was silent in her room. Mimi collapsed to the floor, letting the device fall from her hands. Her body felt weird, as if someone had just shocked her. Her arms felt numb and her head felt heavy and weighed down to the floor. She eventually willed herself to get up, though, and grabbed hold of her desk to help her stand. As she grabbed, though, she knocked one of the dead plants from the surface and sent it flying towards the floor.

"Shit!" Mimi exclaimed as she reached out to try and catch it. However, she was a bit too slow, and the plant shattered on the ground, sending bits of pot and soil everywhere. Mimi groaned once again as she tried to scoop up little pieces of the mess in her hand.

As her fingers went through the soil, the little dead flower began to twitch. Mimi let out a gasp of surprise and jumped back, disconnecting herself from the plant. Instantly, the flower drooped once again to the ground.

"W-what..." The girl stuttered, reaching out her hand once more. She touched one of the flowers crinkled petals and watched as it came back to life. What had a few seconds ago been a shriveled, brown plant was now a soft, pink tulip. The girl bit her lip and her eyes grew wide. In a second, she was running about her room, bringing back all her dead plants to life. She wasn't quite sure what was going on, but something strange had just happened to her. Whatever it was, though, gave her some wonderful gift. As she laughed and ran back and forth touching plant after plant, the few clouds in the sky outside quickly disappeared.

X

"Why is your face so red? Are you sick?"

"No, Sora, I don't know why my face is red. Is it bothering you?"

"A bit."

"Sucks."

Sora Takenouchi and Taichi Yagami walked back from school together. Their apartments were in the same general direction which allowed them to walk together for a little bit until they had to part ways. They had just recently split from Yamato who lived a few blocks east of them, closer to the school.

Moments before, Taichi hadn't felt hot. In fact, he was able to drink water and not sweat through his shirt. But ever since Yamato left, his strange symptoms came back once again. Sora looked at him with worried eyes. She had asked a number of times if she could at least feel his forehead, but the boy refused, remembering what had happened to Hikari when she touched him.

"Taichi, you really don't look well. Stop joking about it and let me see if you have a fever." Sora pleaded once again. "Look, you're sweating."

Taichi looked down at his shirt in disgust. Along the lines of his chest, sweat began to seep though his shirt. Sora, really, it's just hot out. Come on, leave it alone."

The girl grumbled something Taichi couldn't hear but stopped bothering him about how hot he looked. It made him happy, so he decided not to care about whatever Sora had said. The two walked along in silence for a little bit, with Taichi feeling hotter and hotter, and Sora feeling awkward herself. She couldn't pick out what was wrong, but her entire body felt tingly. The hairs on her arm stood on edge as if a constant cool breeze was sweeping across her skin. It felt nice, but it made her terribly aware of herself.

Sora was about to ask Taichi what his plans were for later that day, but as they turned a corner, they ran into something that caused both of them to stop dead in their tracks. In front of them, a large man stood in a trench coat, blocking their way. His body took up most of the sidewalk and his face was blocked by a large, black fedora. All the two could see were his teeth as he grinned at them. He was uncomfortably close to them, too, as if he had been waiting for them to arrive in that very spot.

"Well, if it isn't young Yagami and Sora Takenouchi."

Taichi felt a large bead of sweat drip down his back. His body tensed up, and he could feel the girl standing next to him breathing heavily.

"Who are you?" He asked. "How do you know our names?"

The large man chuckled in response. "Children, I know much more about you than your names. You might say a little birdy told me about you." he finished, turning his attention to the awe-struck girl.

"What are you talking about?" She asked, her voice a bit shaky.

"Oh come now," he said, smiling once again. "You can't tell me you don't remember Piyomon?"

"Piyomon?" Taichi asked, his voice now strong. "What do you know about Piyomon?"

The figure began taking steps towards the two teens. "You know," he cackled, "I don't really think you two are in a good position to be asking questions."

Taichi stepped forward as well, but just a bit. He really only put one of his feet in front of Sora in order to block her from the giant man. He was sweating profusely now, whether it was because of the heat, or because he was scared, he didn't know. However, everyone knew Taichi wasn't one to back down, even if it was to a man much larger than him who was _obviously_ very threatening.

"Leave us alone!" he exclaimed, clenching his hands into fists.

"That's a shame, you don't want to play?" the man said sadistically as he formed a small fireball in his hand. "I'm just getting started, and I'm sure you're _dying_ to find out what I can do."

Sora and Taichi looked at the fireball, stunned. They were both afraid, but neither of them would show it. Taichi stood his ground and Sora looked at the man menacingly. "You're a digimon..." she said slowly, as if she was forming her thoughts at the same time she said them.

"Well, well," he said, as the fireball in his hand grew larger. He tossed it up and down and eyed the girl, "we have a winner. Looks like you're first."

Sora gasped and Taichi gritted his teeth, preparing for whatever was about to come.

* * *

><p>-surflilu.<p> 


	4. Confusion Ensues

Jyou splashed his face with water as he stared at himself in the bathroom mirror. The fluorescent lights made him look more tired than he actually was, and he sighed. He had had a bit of a crazy day. All he wanted to do was relax, but for some reason he couldn't. The boy's body felt tense and he kept becoming dizzy over and over again for short periods of time.

After one more splash of water Jyou turned the faucet off and expected to watch the rest of the liquid fall down the drain. For some reason, though, the sink wasn't emptying as fast as it usually was. The boy groaned as he stuck his hand into the water and began to fumble with the drain, attempting to clear out whatever blockage he thought there was. When he felt nothing, he pulled his hand out and groaned again as he rolled up his soaking-wet sleeve.

"Great." He mumbled under his breath as his glasses fell crookedly down his nose. However, Jyou's frustration quickly turned to shock as he watched a string of water begin to rise from the flooded sink. It started slowly, moving a centimeter out of the water at a time. It twirled as it rose, and droplets of it broke off and began to float around the room by themselves.

Quickly, Jyou clenched is teeth together and let out a strained cry. "What? What is going on here!"

Jyou moved his hand away from the water, but the string of droplets followed it. More and more water rose from the sink until it stretched across to bathroom to where Jyou had run to. It twisted and twirled it's way over, letting more droplets break off from it as it grew. The target it aimed for seemed to be Jyou's pointer finger; as it got closer and closer to the boy, it tried to connect with it. However, Jyou would not allow it.

"Stop, stop, stop!" He shouted, acting scared of something he normally wouldn't be scared of.

"What's going on in there?" A voice asked from the other side of the door. A few knocks followed, along with some more words Jyou couldn't make out.

"Nothing Mom!" The boy cried, simply hoping that his mother wouldn't come into the bathroom. She had a weaker heart than her son; the fights with digimon nearly made her ill. Jyou knew she wouldn't be able to handle this. However, the boy heard the doorknob twist and the door creak open.

"Shit!" Jyou muttered under his breath. However, just before his mother stepped into the room, the now-large string of water fell to the ground with a splash, creating puddles everywhere.

"Oh, Jyou!" The woman cried, "Look at this mess!"

The boy looked around him at a complete loss for words. He could only stutter as his mother glared at him.

* * *

><p>Taichi stared at the monster, still wearing a look of determination on his face. Sure, whoever he was, he was still holding a giant fireball in his hand, but that was no reason to fret, right? After all, he had to be brave for Sora, too. The boy clenched his fists as he looked around for something, anything to help him.<p>

The monster pulled back his hand, preparing to attack.

"Taichi!" Sora cried, grabbing the boy's attention.

He turned to look at her, but there was nothing there.

He was stunned. "S-sora..?" Wide-eyed, he spun around in a circle, desperately trying to find her. He was about to turn to the monster and demand to know what he had done to her, but when he faced the creature, the boy realized he had the same look of confusion.

"Where'd she go!" His voice boomed.

"I-I don't know!" The boy exclaimed. He spun around once more, just to make sure the girl hadn't dashed off into a hiding spot without him. He bit his lip as he looked back at the monster. "Sora..."

The boy wiped a bead of sweat off his forehead, but it did no use. More came. He felt as if he were going to pass out any moment, but he knew he couldn't. His vision became hazy and his skin felt like it was crawling with little droplets of moisture, however, Taichi fought to stay alert. He couldn't simply give in to whatever evil he was facing. He watched in a daze as the villain formed another fireball in his hand, but this time wasting less time. 'Shit.' Taichi thought to himself. 'Shit, shit, shit. Sora, this is the worst time to abandon me!'

Sora stared at the boy. She had given up trying to get his attention. Whatever had happened to her before, she knew it happened again. No one could hear her, no one could see her, but most importantly, the giant, trench-coat wearing monster couldn't aim a ball of fire at her. However, her absence simply made Taichi a bigger target. The girl watched as the monster formed another ball of fire in his palm and aimed at the boy. Sora, without thinking, and without much time to plan, ran straight at the monster and shoved his arm, causing the fireball to go incredibly off-course.

"What the hell was that?" He cried as he looked at the giant hole that had been burned into the side of a nearby building.

Whatever it was, Taichi knew it gave him a chance. He would not run, he knew that. He was never one to run. A feeling of strength came over the boys body, and instead of running away, it caused him to run straight at the creature in front of him. The boy let out a giant cry as he pounded a single fist into the digimon's giant body. The monster smirked until he felt the impact. The boy's force sent him flying backwards into a streetlight, which he in turn knocked over.

Now, Taichi knew, was the time to get away. He settled himself by believing that he had momentarily beaten the monster, which gave him a reason to leave. He wasn't running, no.

The boy dashed, though, so the monster would be unable to follow him once it regained consciousness. As he ran, he had one single thought on his mind: 'What in the name of blazing hell was that?'

Sora ran besides the boy, although still unable to get his attention. She waved at him, she shouted at him, but nothing worked. After they had gotten far enough away from the monster, she wondered if he would be able to feel her. Once the boy slowed down, she stuck a foot out in front of his leg, causing him to trip. he fell easily onto the ground, and proceeded to freak out as he felt invisible hands on the side of his leg.

"Hey!" He shouted at the being he could not see. "What's going on? Who are you!" However, for the amount of bravery he put into his words, he couldn't bring himself to move. He simply lay sprawled across the ground as he felt a hand go into his pocket and grab his phone. "Hey! That's mine!"

Taichi wasn't sure, but he swore he could have felt something smack him on the back of the head. However, he could pay no attention to that. In front of him, it appeared as if his cell-phone was hovering in mid-air. It opened by itself and the screen lit up. Buttons on it were being pressed, but nothing was there to press it. The boy stared with his mouth wide open. Now he was certain he couldn't move. His legs were frozen as he stared in awe at what was happening.

The notepad on his cellphone was opened and a message was being written on it. After a few moments, the device was shoved close to the boy's face so he could read what had been written. He squinted his eyes and slowly read the words out loud. "I'm right here. I'm Sora. I pushed his arm. I think I'm... invisible?"

Of course, Sora hadn't written as much emphasis on the word 'invisible'. Taichi was simply shocked. He stood up again and reached out to his cell phone. He felt it floating, but then he reached past it. He bit his lip once he felt the familiar form of a hand, and then the familiar form of a lower arm. "Sora?" He asked, forgetting he was unable to get a verbal answer.

The girl began speedily typing her next message on the phone before handing it back to the boy for good. "I don't know how to change back. Help me."

Taichi bit his lip as he closed his phone and put it back into his pocket. How was he supposed to help her? He couldn't even figure out what was wrong with _him_.

* * *

><p>"Okay. Alright. Takeru, calm down. We'll figure this out." Hikari had placed the third cup of water in front of her friend and watched as he frantically gulped it down without stopping for a breath.<p>

The boy slammed the glass back down onto the table and gripped it hard. "I can't stay like this forever Hikari. I miss being me and I've only been Yamato for an hour!"

Hikari smiled lightly at him. She wasn't sure if he would change back, but she couldn't let him know. After all, she was still able to hear other people's thoughts, and she desperately wanted that to stop.

_'I can't be Yamato, I can't be Yamato, I can't be Yamato. Where will I go? I can't go home until I'm fixed. What will I tell mom? And my brother? He'll freak. He can't have a look-a-like.'_

"Tell me again how to came to be like... this.." Hikari said, pushing the intruding thoughts out of her mind.

_'I've said this a thousand times and it hasn't helped.'_

"I was in the bathroom, and I got annoyed with my face. I went over to dry my hands, I came back, and I was Yamato." The boy said rather quickly.

"Are you sure you're not leaving out details?" The girl asked, trying not to show her aggravation at the thoughts she heard.

_'How could I be leaving out details if I've repeated this so many times?'_

"No, I don't think so."

"Well," Hikari began, "did you say anything? When you were picking at your face, did you say you wished you had different skin, something along those lines?"

"Now that you say it," Takeru responded, "I said I wanted to look like Yamato."

_"I wished to look like Yamato.. yes! She's a genius!"_

_"Alright, Sora, we're almost there!"_

Hikari furrowed her brow and wondered where the second round of thoughts had come from. She had gotten used to hearing Takeru's, but the new voice didn't _sound_ like Takeru _or_ Yamato. It sounded like.. Taichi. Before the girl could think about hiding her friend from her brother's, the front door flew open and Taichi came dashing inside. He glanced at the two sitting at the table, but appeared to not think anything of it. His face was red, like he had just been running, and he spoke like he was clearly out of breath.

"Oh.. Hikari... Yamato? Hi!"

Hikari waved, a look of confusion and dumbfoundedness plastered onto her face. Takeru, still resembling Yamato, put his head down on the kitchen table, as if that would make him disappear.

_"Why is Yamato here? Whatever, I have bigger things to worry about."_

The two watched as Taichi dashed inside his bedroom and quickly closed the door. However, right as it closed, a large _thump_ could be heard.

_"Taichi, you idiot!"_

'Sora?' Hikari thought to herself. Why could she hear Sora?

Suddenly, the door was yanked back open and Taichi stood aside, muttering something like "Sorry Sora... Sorry.." under his breath. Hikari couldn't make it out, so with the same look of confusion left on her face, she went over to the front of the apartment and closed the door Taichi had left ajar.

* * *

><p>'So this is the place..' A large man wearing a trench-coat thought to himself as he stared at the door. Above the doorbell, there was a sign that read 'Ishida'. Laughing quietly to himself, the man found the door to be unlocked and walked inside. He had the element of surprise on his side, and this time, nothing would get in his way.<p>

-surflilu.


	5. Running out of Breath

Agumon opened his eyes but all that came to him was darkness. He had no idea where he was, but he knew he wasn't alone.

"Help!" He called out desperately into the blackness. "Taichi!"

His voice echoed off the cold, stone walls. "Taichi..."

"A-Agumon?" A familiar asked from elsewhere in the darkness.

"Who is that?" The little orange digimon stood up and looked around, squinting his eyes to see as far as he could.

"It's Agumon!"

"Agumon?"

"No! They've gotten him too!"

The digimon took a step towards the voiced and again asked, "Who is that? Who are all of you?"

In response, seven digimon stepped out of the shadows. Agumon's eyes widened in horror and he felt his heart begin to beat faster than ever. In front of him were all his friends- Gabumon, Biyomon, Tentomon, Palmon, Patamon, Gomamon, and Gatomon.

"We're all here." Gatomon stated, lifting a paw to point at the other monsters.

"But... but why?" Agumon stammered as he looked at his friends' conditions. They looked worn out and tired, and as if they hadn't eaten in awhile. Dirt was smudged into their fur or feathers too, like they had been knocked around.

"We don't know," Biyomon responded, "But we all had the same experience. We were knocked out and taken here by some digimon and told we would be punished for what we've done."

"What we've done?" Agumon asked, "What does that mean?"

Biyomon was about to open her beak to respond once again, but she was cut off by a maniacal laugh coming from the opposite direction.

"Stupid fools!" It boomed.

Agumon ran towards to voice, sprinting as fast as he could. He felt warm fire begin to form in his mouth as he got closer to it until finally, he let out his pepper breath attack. However, it disintegrated before it went too far.

"W-what?" Agumon stuttered, stopping dead in his tracks. Why had his attack suddenly disappeared?

The voice erupted once again. "Pitiful. Do you really think you can use that weak attack against me, in my domain?"

"Who are you!" Agumon cried as he stood tall. His voice was strong. He knew it was how Taichi would sound.

The voice chuckled as the figure made himself known. He couldn't be seen that well. The room was almost entirely covered in darkness, and the figure seemed to be black itself. However, an outline could be made out, and the digimon looked large and cruel. "Who I am is not important." It said, stepping forward.

Agumon attempted to fire another pepper breath as the figure approached him, but once again it was useless.

"Pitiful." The creature repeated, the word echoing off the stone walls and stinging Agumon each time it went through his ears.

"What do you want with us?" Patamon asked, rising slightly off the ground in anger.

"With you?" The creature replied, smirking a bit. "I don't want much from you. I just want you out of the way for now."

"Oh yeah?" Agumon exclaimed, outraged. "And what do you think you're gonna do with us out of the way?"

The dark digimon laughed once again, this time for longer. Each of the smaller digimon stared at him in increasing anger, waiting for his answer. When it finally came though, their hearts sunk. "With you out of the way, there's no one to protect the Chosen Children. They must be punished for what they have done to the great digimon of this world."

"Great? They were the farthest thing from great!" Agumon shouted, really losing his cool. How dare someone think they could hurt Taichi.

"Quiet!" The figure yelled as he raised his hand in the air. From his palm, an invisible blast formed and knocked Agumon off his feet. He was sent flying back and landed just in front of the other digimon, nearly taking out Palmon. "Don't speak about the legendary digimon that way. Piedmon, Etemon, Devimon, all of them! They must be avenged. And after I painfully kill off all your human friends, you'll be next."

Agumon gritted his teeth. He needed to get to Taichi, but how could he? He didn't even know where he was.

* * *

><p>Mimi glanced around the room at everything she had done. All the plants she had managed to somehow kill came back alive with a simple touch. Even the plants around her apartment that were beginning to wilt were brought back to life. They stood brighter and taller then they had before. They were almost dancing.<p>

The girl walked over to her window and let out a large yawn, throwing her hands out to her sides. The sunlight that came through the window felt good on her skin. She had laid in bed all day, and it felt good to stretch as well.

"What a beautiful day!" The girl exclaimed as she stared up into the blue sky. "And I thought it was supposed to rain!"

* * *

><p>After being scolded, Jyou rubbed a handful of paper towels across the floor. Once it was filled with water, he chucked it at the garbage can which was already filled to the brim with soaking balls of paper. He had only cleaned up about half the floor; puddles remained everywhere.<p>

"This is going to take forever." Jyou mumbled to himself as he wiped his hand across his forehead. He pushed his glasses up on his nose as he bundled up another pile of towels and proceeded on to the next puddle. "I wish all this water would just go away."

Suddenly, just as Jyou put his hand near the water, it all began to evaporate. The boy fell off his knees and onto his backside in shock as he saw the steam rise into the air. The room became quite warm and wet, and Jyou didn't know what to think.

"W-what is going on!" He exclaimed, but quietly enough so no one would hear him. He watched in awe as the water rose and disappeared before his eyes. "This.. this is crazy!"

The boy wasn't sure whether to be happy he didn't have to clean any longer or completely worried that something was wrong with him. For a little while, Jyou just sat on the bathroom floor and stared at the spot where the largest puddle was. "I just evaporated water..."

Eventually, he rose and went over towards the door. With one final look behind him to make sure he didn't imagine the whole thing, he opened it and left. At least this would give him some more time to track down Yamato. After all, he didn't want to do all the work for the project by himself. Normally, Jyou wasn't one to ignore strange situations like this, but he supposed he could talk to Yamato about it as well. After all, Yamato had been acting strangely too when he saw him outside by the fountain.

* * *

><p>A few blocks away, Yamato was busy running a bath. He sat on the floor and listened to the water run, constantly rubbing his arms and trying to warm himself up. He didn't understand what was happening. The boy had taken his temperature- he wasn't sick. In fact, during the day, he randomly felt better. However, it never lasted for long. On the walk home from school for example, he felt better momentarily, but once he split from Sora and Taichi the cold began to take over his body once again. Hopefully the bath would help.<p>

The blonde stuck his hand under the running water and moved his fingers around. The warmth felt good against his skin. With his free hand, the boy took off his shirt, and only removed his other hand from the water to remove one of the sleeves. Yamato smiled to himself. He was sure he would be feeling better in no time.

He stood up and began to unzip his jeans. The water was nearly filled to the brim and he couldn't wait any longer to get in. Suddenly though, the boy heard his apartment door open.

"Hello?" He called out, turning to face the closed bathroom door. He listened closely for a response; his father wasn't supposed to be home until late. Who could it be? "Dad?"

There was nothing but silence. Yamato leaned down and shut off the water in order to hear more clearly. "Dad, are you home?" He called out once again.

Footsteps could be heard, but for some reason, Yamato began to get an eerie feeling in the pit of his stomach. He heard the footsteps walk from room to room, as if someone was looking for something. Every now and then, the boy could see the bottoms of someones feet through the crack underneath the bathroom door. After a little while, they finally stopped and faced the room Yamato was in.

"...Dad?"

With a large smash, the door was blown open. Pieces of it flew everywhere, some hitting Yamato and leaving small cuts on his bare chest. The blonde let out a gasp of shock as he shielded his eyes from the flying pieces of wood.

"Chosen child!" He heard a voice boom. Only then did Yamato open his eyes. When he did, they flew wide open.

In front of him stood a tall man in a hat and trench coat. He was very wide and very tall. He took up almost the entire width of the skinny bathroom. As Yamato looked up at him, the large man stared back down with a creepy smile on his face.

"Who are you?" The blonde asked, still trying to recover from the shock.

"That's not important." The man grunted. "I'm not wasting any time with you. I won't make that mistake again."

Yamato searched his mind for a response, a question, anything, but there was nothing. He lacked words. The boy took a step back, but his heel hit the warm bathtub. The man was blocking the only exit- there was nowhere to go. In horror, Yamato watched as the man's trench coat disappeared off his body. It ripped apart as the man grew bigger and began to press against the walls of the bathroom. One of them gave way once his shoulders became too broad, creating a large, angled dent in the wall. Sharp pieces of wood stood out as parts of it crumbled down. The man himself became fierce. His body took on the appearance of giant boulders that connected to form the shape of a very large human. However, his face was the scariest part. His eyes glowed a deep red and his mouth showed sharp teeth. They were gaped apart as the monster flashed an evil grin.

As Yamato stared up at the creature, his blue eyes watering from how wide they were opened, he muttered to himself, "A digimon?"

The creature gave no answer, but Yamato assumed he was right as he watched the monster form a fireball in his hand. "Prepare for your final moments." He said quietly but viciously. He cackled as the fireball grew to full size and he pulled his shoulder back, preparing to throw it.

"No!" Yamato cried out. "Gabumon!"

The monster only laughed harder as he heard the human's pitiful cries for his digimon. Without waiting any longer, the monster fully pulled back his arm and fired the ball of heat like a baseball.

Yamato let out a fierce scream, preparing for the inevitable. However, as if it were instinct, Yamato held his hand out to the tub behind him. Quickly, the water rose and froze mid-air. The boy stared in complete awe as his hand seemed to be levitating the newly-formed ball of ice. It was crazy, it was insane, it was impossible! However, it was the boys only hope. With a giant grunt, the boy shoved his hand in the direction of the monster. As Yamato expected, the ice followed and collided with the fireball just in time, creating a decently-sized explosion.

The blonde cried out as he was sent flying backwards. His head hit the wall behind the bathtub and his body sunk into the water.

"Fool!" The monster cried out as he formed another fireball in his hand. He walked forward until he was right above the boy. With his free hand, he grabbed him by the throat and pulled him up out of the tub. Water droplets fell from the boys clothes onto the floor. Instantly, they evaporated. The monsters hand felt extremely hot around the boys neck. He struggled for air and to be free of the burning sensation as he was lifted off his feet. Desperately, he gripped the monster's large hand with both of his and tried to pry it away. However, it was useless. He couldn't even speak because of the pressure being applied.

"Now to finish you off quickly." The creature said sadistically as he moved the fireball closer and closer to the boy's face.

Yamato struggled more and more as he saw his death come closer and closer. With his legs, he kicked at the monsters body, but that did no good either. The boy was completely panicking. He had some crazy power, one that had seemed to take over his body, but he couldn't even use it!

Yamato squeezed his eyes shut and clenched his teeth together. This couldn't be the end, it couldn't be. He didn't even know who the monster was or why it was attacking. However, the fireball was now close enough to singe the very top of his skin. His nose first felt the sensation, and then his cheeks. He was quickly running out of air, too. The boy wasn't sure which would bring an end to him sooner- the fire, or his lack of breath.

The monster grinned widely. He enjoyed watching his victims suffer. However, the enjoyment wouldn't last for much longer; his victim would soon be dead. However, just before the fireball completely engulfed the boy, the monster felt a large splash of water against his back. More water hit the fire, totally extinguishing it.

"What?" The monster exclaimed, spinning around to see who had attacked him. In the doorway of the bathroom stood a skinny boy with blue hair. "Damn you, chosen child!" The digimon shrieked as he figured out who it was. As he turned, he loosened his grip on Yamato and sent him flying back towards the tub.

The blonde coughed as he hit the floor, desperately filling his lungs with air. "J-Jyou!" He managed to say between gasps. "Perf-perfect... timing!"

However, Jyou had no time to listen to his friend's praise. The monster now had his eyes set on him, and the boy had no idea how he had just launched the water. He had simply held out his hand. "St-stand back!" he said, attempting to sound brave. However, his voice was incredibly shaky. The monster laughed, but he made no moves. He knew he didn't want to fight this battle. He was sure he could have eliminated the blonde boy, but two on one would be more difficult, especially when the other boy seemed to be able to control water. The creature knew his powers stood no chance.

The digimon turned back to the blonde boy and smirked. "I'll be seeing you again soon." And with that, he disappeared.

Both Jyou and Yamato remained in silence in the destroyed bathroom. Many of the walls around them were damaged, and there was water everywhere. Neither of them really knew what to say, but Jyou rushed over to his friends side and leaned down to meet him.

"Yamato! Are you alright?"

"Yeah," The blonde managed to say as he rubbed his neck. He knew it was bruised. "Who was that?"

"You're asking the wrong person." Jyou responded, staring at the boys neck. "Are you sure you're okay? You look pretty beat up."

"I'm sure." Yamato responded, attempting to sit up straighter. However, he grunted and fell back down once again. Perhaps he was more damaged than he thought. He didn't want to worry Jyou though, so he changed the topic. "So you can control water, huh?"

The older boy froze. "I mean, well, I... I really don't know."

"Something weird's happening," Yamato continued, "I'm not sure, but I think I can make ice. I should be freaking out right? I think I'm just glad this weird power saved my life.." The blonde looked his friend directly in the eyes. "Thanks... for coming. For saving me."

Jyou blushed. He wasn't used to being praised. He really only came to bother Yamato about their project, but once he heard screams from outside, he knew something was wrong. "You know," Jyou responded, "We should go find everyone else. I don't think it was coincidence that you and I have these weird powers."

Yamato thought to himself agreeing. "You're probably right. Give me a few minutes, and then we can go."

* * *

><p>A few blocks away, a similar monster sat on top of an apartment building. He had seen four children go into one of the complexes below, but only one of them concerned him. He was waiting patiently for the child to emerge. Even if she remained invisible, she couldn't hide from him. He just hoped she would be alone so he could finish her off quickly.<p>

* * *

><p>-surflilu.<p> 


	6. A Fight in the Streets

Koushirou collapsed into the chair by his desk, letting out a large sigh. He had just gotten back from tutoring a younger student for his honor society, and really, he didn't get enough credit for all the work he did. Literally, the red head would have to go over equations at least twelve times until the younger boy finally got them. Koushirou admitted, it frustrated him. However, he knew the boy couldn't really help it. After all, that was why he was asking or help.

Koushirou sunk further down into his chair and felt his eyelids droop. It wasn't even dinner time, and he was already exhausted. Perhaps some homework would keep him awake- and it would be productive. Koushirou sat back up in his chair and took his laptop out of his bag. It was still warm from being used earlier and the device felt familiar in his hands. The boy smirked and placed it on his desk, opening it up. With a single blow, he blew off some dust and food particles before pressing his finger heavily into the power button.

On contact with the 'on' switch, though, Koushirou felt his finger begin to get hot. Instantly, he pulled it away and stuck it in his mouth to try and cool it down. His eyebrows furrowed as he winced in a bit of pain, but Koushirou wasn't one to let technology do that to him.

The boy watched in confusion as his computer continued to turn on. Everything seemed normal. Perhaps he had just gotten shocked. Once the 'login' box popped up, the boy grabbed for his mouse. However, once again, on contact, the boy felt a heavy shock burst through his skin.

"Mmp!" Koushirou exclaimed, once again throwing his finger in his mouth. Why did he keep getting shocked?

Once his hand was cooled down, he reached for the mouse again. However, he moved incredibly slowly. The boy could feel an intense amount of heat rising from the machine, but he had no idea why his laptop was acting in such a strange way. His hand felt fine as he got closer and closer to the mouse, so he couldn't figure out why he was hesitating. Why was he afraid to touch the computer that was so familiar to him? It was probably just overheating anyway an-

"What?" Koushirou stopped thinking after noticing a small purple light coming out from under his finger. It was only a centimeter or so away from the clicker on the mouse. Slowly, the boy raised his hand until he could see underneath it, then he gasped. From his finger to the mouse, there was a giant stream of static electricity. It was colored bright purple, and it kept growing as the boy moved his hand farther away.

Koushirou should have tried to make it go away, but he was too fascinated to do anything but stare. In his hand, he felt nothing- no sting, no burn, no pain. What was going on? The redhead racked his brain until he remembered something: his digivice. It had gone off in class that day and shocked the same hand that was now causing this to happen.

Instantly, with his free arm, the boy grabbed for his digivice and stared at it. The screen was dark and bare, and no matter what he pressed, the device wouldn't light up.

"It's.. broken?" Koushirou muttered to himself, too busy to notice that the stream of electricity had ceased to exist. "Tentomon? Tentomon!"

Without a moment to spare, the boy jumped from his seat and gathered his bag. Something was going on. He had to tell the others. He had to get to Taichi's.

* * *

><p>Taichi stared at an empty spot on his bed. Well- a seemingly empty spot. Although it looked empty, a spot on the mattress where it was pushed down said otherwise. Sora was still invisible, and Taichi had tried every possible remedy from the internet to make her come back. The boy scrolled through his phone. The notepad application was still open and filled with messages Taichi and Sora had sent to each other. It would have made everything ten times easier if Sora could at least be heard.<p>

The boy shut his phone and let it hang loosely from his fingers. He was sitting backwards on his computer chair and he placed his head on the back, letting it rest. "You know Sora, you might be stuck like this forever."

A thump on the bed was the only response. One thump was for 'no', two thumps was for 'yes'. They decided it would be easier to create a yes or no system rather than trade Taichi's phone back and forth for simple answers. He sighed, deciding not to respond to the girls answer. The boy had become mentally exhausted from everything they had tried.

"It's useless." Taichi moaned, kicking at the floor to send himself spinning in the chair. The moving air felt good against his burning skin.

As he spun, he didn't notice the lump on his bed disappear. He only noticed Sora had gotten up once he felt a sharp slap against the back of his head. The girl grabbed for Taichi's phone and spelled him a message.

'I'm not staying invisible forever. Fix me!'

The boy read the message through tired eyes. "Why don't we pour some flour on you so at least as you walk home no cars will hit you."

Taichi took another whack to the back of his head.

"Will you stop that?" He exclaimed, wincing and rubbing the spot she'd hit. "I'm breakable you kn-"

The boy was stopped mid sentence. He could see her. All of a sudden, Sora was there. She was back!

Taichi grinned widely. "Sora! Say something!"

"What?" the girl responded, clearly confused. She hovered above him, obviously still not aware she had become visible again.

The boy simply continued to smile, taking in her voice. It rang through his ears with accomplishment, even though he really had done nothing.

Once Sora realized the boy was looking straight into her eyes, she rushed over to the mirror. When she was invisible, Taichi had no idea where her eyes were. He could only look over in her general direction. Now, he knew.

The girl nearly cried when she saw her reflection staring back at her. She reached out and touched the mirror with her palm, gasping with delight as the hand on the other side reached out to touch her. "Taichi! I'm back!"

The boy was about to respond, but he was instantly squished by one of the girl's large hugs. "We did it!"

"Yeah- we- yeah!" Taichi struggled to respond. He gasped for air jokingly once the girl let him go, but what normally would have annoyed the girl now only made her happier.

"I... I have to go home!" She said suddenly, glancing at the clock on his dresser. "My mother must be worried sick! I didn't realize how long I'd stayed here." Her stomach dropped. If her mother questioned her about where she was, what was she going to say? She'd been invisible?

"That's probably a good idea." Taichi said, moving towards his bedroom door. "But hey, if this happens again, please let me know. We should really talk to Gennai or something."

"Gennai?" Sora asked, pausing for only a moment.

"Well yeah." The boy answered. "Anytime something weird like this happens, a digimon always seems to be behind it. We should probably try to contact Gennai tomorrow to see what's going on. But for now, I think we both need some rest."

Normally, Taichi would have been all for figuring out what was happening in the moment, but the heat was getting to him. It had taunted him now for hours since he left school. Like having a fever, it made him feel tired and achy all over. His muscles felt strained, as if he had just done a vicious workout.

Sora nodded as she walked out the boys bedroom door, only now noticing Hikari and Yamato on the couch. She waved to them slowly, not stopping to talk. There was no doubt in her mind that both of them had wondered how Sora was leaving, but had never come in.

Taichi, who had just _really_ noticed who Hikari was with, raised an eyebrow at the two. "What are you doing here?" He asked, facing Yamato.

"I- uh, I..." Yamato stammered, his voice shaky.

Hikari, however, helped him recover. "He's helping me study for science!"

Taichi looked skeptical about the urgency in his sisters voice. "But Yamato's no good at science..."

The blonde plastered an innocent smile onto his face, just hoping Taichi would go away. Hikari stared at him as well, hoping her brother would believe her lie.

_'Whatever. We have bigger problems right now."_

For the first time, Hikari felt relieved to hear someone's thoughts. However, she still watched just to make sure Taichi was going. Her older brother walked Sora towards the door, the girl moving much quicker than him.

_'My mother is going to kill me. I'm so late. I'm so late.'_

However, after Sora had walked out the front door, instead of hearing the door shut, they heard Taichi call something out.

"Yamato? Jyou? What are you two doing here. Are you... are you alright? Wait..."

Instantly, Hikari and Yamato- well, Takeru, turned to each other, their eyes wide with fright. Now what were they going to do?

* * *

><p>Yamato and Jyou had run the entire way to Taichi's. They were half scared for themselves, and half concerned for everyone else. It took them a few minutes, but eventually, the Yagami's building was in sight.<p>

"Yes!" Jyou gasped, completely out of breath.

The blonde smiled, quickening his pace. "Almost there- wait!" Suddenly, the boy stopped. Jyou ran passed him, clearly not noticing, so the blonde had to grab the back of his shirt to get him to slow down.

"Hey!" Jyou exclaimed, but Yamato put a finger to his mouth, quieting him.

"Look!" He whispered, motioning with only his eyes towards the top of another nearby building where a large digimon stood. It either was the creature from before, or it was one that looked exactly like it.

Jyou followed his gaze and nearly screamed. "Another monster!" He cringed, picking up his pace again.

"Where are you going?" Yamato whispered as loudly as he could after him.

"Taichi's!" Jyou responded. "I'm not fighting another one of them! Oh no!"

The blonde grunted and followed after him. He didn't want to fight another monster either. He needed his friends. He needed Gabumon.

Yamato and Jyou both ran down Taichi's hall once they had gotten into his building. They saw Sora speeding towards them as well, looking clearly worried herself. As they passed each other, Sora turned to look at the blonde for a moment, her mouth gaping. She pointed at him slightly and looked back at Taichi, as if she was going to say something. Yamato had no idea why she was looking at him so confused, but he kept on moving, determined to tell his friend about what happened. Sora appeared to have ignored whatever caused her to be confused, as she kept moving as well. As Sora disappeared down the stairway and Yamato and Jyou finally made it to Taichi's doorstep.

"Taichi!" Yamato gasped, putting his hands on his knees and bending over. It had been clear he'd ran the entire way. Jyou didn't look much better. He leaned up against the wall himself, huffing and puffing.

"Yamato!" Taichi exclaimed, looking from the blonde to the other end of the hallways. "Yamato?"

"Yes.." The blonde responded as he stood up straight, his voice confused. "I'm Yamato."

"But.." Taichi stammered, looking back inside his apartment once again. "You're already here!"

"What?" Yamato asked, pushing the boy aside as he stepped into his house. He walked down the hall, leaving both Jyou and Taichi confused in the doorway. With a few more steps he rounded the corner to the living room and his jaw nearly dropped to the floor. On the couch sat Hikari and... and him?

"Who are you?" Yamato shouted to his sitting look-a-like. Although his skin had been freezing, he felt it heating up. A bead of sweat dropped down the side of his face as he stared at the stranger.

Hikari bit her lip as Takeru stood up, placing a hand on his chest. "Yamato... it's me... Takeru..."

_'There's not even a use to try and hide this anymore.'_

"Takeru?" Yamato responded, his voice shaking as his mind tried to piece together what was going on.

_'What the hell is happening?'_

_'I hope he believes me.'_

_'I'm so out of shape, I can't believe I ran all the way here!'_

_'I hope Sora makes it home alright. Wait.. I'm not hot anymore!'_

_'Can't be Takeru.. running... Sora... This is... lying... strange...NO! HELP!'  
><em>

_"_STOP!" Hikari shouted, gripping her head with her hands. She fell back down onto the couch, tears forming in her eyes.

All four of the boys instantly stared at her, quite confused.

"Hikari? What's wrong?" Taichi asked, running towards her. He fell down onto the couch next to her and pulled her head to his chest.

The girl cried into her brother's shirt, still clutching her head. "The voices, the voices. Stop thinking! Just don't think, I can't take it anymore! There's too many of you!"

"What?" Taichi asked, wrapping his arms around the shaking girl. "What voices?"

Hikari attempted to catch her breath before responding, preparing to reveal her secret. "YOUR MIND! I can read your minds! Okay?"

Taichi looked from the girl to Yamato... Takeru.. whoever he was, looking for him to reaffirm what his sister had just said. Takeru nodded in response, but Taichi wasn't even surprised.

"It's okay.." Taichi said, placing a hand on her shoulder and pushing her back so he could look her in the eyes. "Weird things are happening to me too." He forced himself to laugh a bit. "I can somehow spit raging fireballs out of my hands."

The real Yamato looked strangely at his friend, but stepped forward and added to the conversation as well. "I can make ice."

Takeru also responded, looking directly at his brother. "I can shapeshift... I think."

Hikari looked up at the three boys, taking in all their confessions. She wiped tears away from her eyes and smiled a bit, realizing she wasn't the only one who was going through something strange. Before she spoke though, she looked at Jyou. The blue-haired boy instantly put his hands up after realizing everyone was now looking to him.

"No." He said, starting out calmly. "I'm not getting involved in this. I am not some sort of super-human weirdo who can blast things from my hands or morph into animals or whatever you say you can do! I won't buy it!" By the end of his little speech, the boy was shouting. His head faced the ceiling and his eyes were closed. He expected someone to say something to him, but no one did. When he looked back at his friends, they were all still staring at him, waiting for something.

Jyou looked each one of them in the eyes, beginning to hyperventilate. As much as he denied it, he _was_ one of those weirdos. Something was going on with the digidestined and no amount of yelling was going to get him out of it. "Fine." He huffed, folding his arms across his chest. "I can do things with water."

Yamato jumped, suddenly remembering what he had come here to tell everyone. "Okay guys, so we have these weird powers, but there's a bigger issue. Something's after us. I was at my apartment and this monster broke in and tried to kill me!" The boy put his hands in the air and turned to Jyou, lowering his head a little. "And I uh.. I would probably be dead if it weren't for Jyou."

The older boy blushed. He was never really good with compliments. It had been a chance encounter anyways, nothing heroic had really been done. After all, Jyou had originally gone to the boy's apartment to harass him about school, but he wasn't about to admit that. He was just thankful he had been there.

After a moment of silence, Taichi looked from his sister to his other friends. "Hey, the same thing happened to me, too. Sora and I were walking home from school when a monster appeared and attacked us. Sora suddenly turned invisible and managed to get us away, though."

"Invisible?" Jyou asked, his voice skeptical.

"Are you really going to doubt it, water-boy?" Yamato asked, turning to his friend.

Instantly, Jyou lowered his head, refusing to say anything more. His brain was about to explode. Him and all his friend had powers, some weird enemy was out to get them, and no one had any idea what was going on! This was just perfect in his opinion, considering there was another monster lurking on a roof nearby, no doubt waiting for one of them to emerge from the apartment.

"Wait." Jyou said suddenly, running towards the window of the living room. He glanced up at the roof he had looked at before. The monster was no longer there. It was gone. "Yamato! Come here! The monster's not there anymore!"

"What?" The blonde asked, dashing to the window himself. All their friends followed them, pushing each other for a view outside.

"You mean there was a monster watching us before?" Taichi asked, attempting to glance over Jyou's tall shoulder.

"Yeah," he responded, "it was just sitting there... waiting."

"For what?" Takeru asked, still resembling Yamato. His older brother raised a brow at hearing his own voice.

"One of us, no doubt." Jyou concluded, backing away from the window. "Maybe it got tired of sitting there and went away. That'd be nice, right?"

"Maybe..." Taichi mumbled, his attention suddenly being drawn to Hikari once he heard a small gasp escape her lips. "What is it?"

The girl tangled her fingers back in her hair, a look of fear spreading it's way across her face. "Before... when you all were thinking... I picked up on someone else... someone calling for help.."

Taichi opened his mouth to say something, but his jaw remained gaped. His eyes suddenly grew wide and his voice became urgent. "Sora!"

* * *

><p>Sora jumped the last couple steps of the stairs before pushing the door open to the outside. The night air hit her hot face and cooled her down, encouraging her to slow her pace to a fast walk. Still worried about getting home late, the girl crossed the parking lot and made it to the sidewalk that ran parallel to the main street. Just a few more minutes and she would be home. Just what was she going to tell her mother? She supposed she could make up some story about Taichi failing a test and needing immediate help. That had happened more than once. She just hoped her mother would believe it.<p>

The streets were bare and empty and a chill went down Sora's spine. The girl was nearly a block away, but still in view of the boy's apartment when a voice behind her caught her attention.

"Chosen child!" It called menacingly.

Instantly, the girl spun around to see who had addressed her. From a tall building behind her, she watched a large man jump and land on the ground with a crash. The sidewalk below him crumbled, leaving a large dent where the creature landed. Instantly recognizing the creature from before, Sora gasped, turning to run. However, with instant speed, the monster jumped over her, landing on the other side.

"Don't even try to run." It growled. "I can read your mind, there's no use trying anything tricky."

Sora may have responded if she was feeling a bit braver, but it was cold and dark, and she was alone. There was only one thing she could do. The girl shut her eyes tight, nearly hurting her head from how tight she squeezed them. "Come on, come on." she muttered, her eyes bursting open to look at her hands. However, once she saw them, her breath was taken from her.

"Trying to turn invisible?" The monster asked, closing the distance between them. "That's right, I know your little game, and it's useless. You can't control it."

Completely disregarding the monster's warning, Sora turned around once again to try another shot at running. However, the monster instantly blocked her way again, this time landing right in front of her. The closeness shocked the girl and caused her to let out a cry.

_'No! Help!'_

"Scared?" The monster asked, grabbing the girls upper arms with his large hands. In response, the girl wiggled in his grip. A sadistic smile came to the monsters face as he tightened his long fingers around the girls arms and torso. "Good."

Before he could make a move though, a small voice caught his attention.

"Sora!"

Both the girl and the monster looked up towards the Yagami's building to see a boy with a poof of brown hair staring down at them from a balcony. Although he was far away, a look of pure fear could be seen on his face. The boy's eyes were wide and his hands gripped the railing of the edge as if he were about to fall from it.

"Hold on! I'm coming!"

The large creature snarled as he threw Sora to the ground. The boy disappeared back into his apartment as the digimon stepped closer and closer to the girl. "Sure he's coming, but I'll get rid of you right _now."_

The monster stood directly above the girl and raised a giant fist into the air. Sora felt her entire body freeze as she shut her eyes, expecting to be crushed. However, yet again, before the monster could do anything, another voice was heard- but this time, it was closer.

"Don't touch her!" A figure in the distance screamed. It was holding something in it's left hand and aimed at the monster with it's right. Without warning, a huge shot of purple electricity blew out from the figure and hit Sora's attacker, sending him flying backwards. Taking advantage of the moment, Sora jumped from the ground and ran towards whoever had saved her. Her chest still felt frozen as she attempted to remember how to use her legs. Everything felt numb to her- she felt like she should have just died.

However, the girl stopped in her tracks just as she figured out who the mysterious figure was. It was Koushirou running towards her with a laptop in his hand. He waved with his free one, clearly not seeing what Sora could behind him. Following the boy closely was another monster, completely identical to the one who was slowly picking himself off the ground. The girl covered her mouth and pointed, trying to form words to warn the boy. However, nothing came out of her quivering mouth. She couldn't help the boy notice until he actually made it to her- once he did, Sora grabbed him by the shoulder and spun him around.

The monster that was chasing Koushirou now blocked off any escape route in front of them. The other monster- who had managed to close the distance between itself and the two teenagers- now blocked the routes behind them.

"Koushirou.." Sora muttered, feeling herself back up into her friend.

The two were now back to back, each of them staring at their own personal opponent. Koushirou looked over his shoulder at the girl. "This is a... predicament."

"Is that all you have to say about it?" Sora retorted, her heel now backing up against the boys.

There was nowhere left for either of them to go. Koushirou tried desperately to create electricity like he had before, but honestly, he had no idea how he had done it. Nothing was working now. Sora was trying her hardest behind him to turn herself invisible, but she was having no success either.

"Come on.." Sora grumbled, "What's the point of having powers if you can't even use them?"

She felt herself becoming angrier and angrier as the monsters grew closer. She was useless, helpless. She couldn't do anything to help her friend. He had risked his life running at her before, and she could do nothing in return. Sora clenched her fists together as she felt Koushirou's lungs panting up and down through her back. His breathing was heavy and rigid. He was scared. She had to do something... something...

"No!" Sora shouted suddenly, throwing both her fists into the air. She couldn't let those creatures hurt him. She wouldn't!

As if on cue, a large gust came spiraling through the area, knocking both monsters off their feet. They flew away from the two kids and crashed into two buildings on opposite sides of the street. As glass shattered and concrete crumbled, both Sora and Koushirou saw Taichi and company running at them from the apartment building.

"Hey!" Koushirou waved, smiling brightly at them. He had no idea what happened- he was simply happy to still be breathing.

Sora, on the other hand, stared wide-eyed at her fists. Gently, she brought them down from above her head and held them close to her face. Had she just done that? Had she created that gust? She couldn't have.

"You're okay!" Hikari shouted happily, nearly skipping to her spot in front of the two kids.

Taichi, Jyou, and the two Yamatos followed closely behind her. Jyou ran up and placed two hands on Koushirou's shoulders, asking him if he was injured. Taichi ran to Sora and wrapped his arms around her entire body, lifting her into the air. "You're alright!"

"We are..." Koushirou responded, staring past Jyou at the two blonde boys. "Yamato?"

The real Yamato pointed at his brother. "Don't get us confused. That's my brother. I'm the real me. He's shape-shifted or something out of jealousy of my looks."

"Hey!" Takeru retorted. He probably would have said something more, but unfortunately, the two monsters had crawled out of the holes the force of the impact had created in the building.

"You're in for it now!" One of them screeched, raising it's hands in the air.

Instantly, as if they were falling from the sky, five more monsters came down and landed with a thud on the street, encircling the chosen children. Each one looked exactly like the other, with a trench coat and hat seeming to be the uniform. Taichi, Hikari, Jyou, Sora, Koushirou, Yamato, and Takeru all backed up against each other, creating a smaller circle of their own.

"What are we going to do now?" Hikari said under her breath. "We can't fight all of them. We don't even know how to control these powers."

Taichi formed fists with his hands as he stood his ground. He could practically feel the desperate heartbeats of his friends in his own chest. "There's... there's one for each of us."

* * *

><p>-surflilu.<p> 


End file.
